By Your Side
by sphinxofthenile
Summary: Crisis Core. Sephiroth has a late night visitor, and things pretty much go downhill from there. Well, kind of. Very mild Sephiroth/Genesis.


**Disclaimer: I do not own these guys, they own me.**

**Warning: Bad case of mako overdose and shameless fluff**

**A/N: My second fic written for a prompt at the areyougame community at IJ. By an ironic twist of fate, I managed to catch a cold meanwhile, so now my head feels like it's filled with cotton. That's my only excuse for all the possible mistakes in there. Reviews are love, as always.**

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Sephiroth raised one elegant silver eyebrow, let the towel he had been drying his face with fall back against the wall with a look that heralded a few offhand words to his late night visitor unless presented with a very good excuse. It was almost two in the morning, he had dealt with tedious amounts of paperwork during office hours and was just getting ready for bed when someone knocked on his door. Or rather, there was a weak knock, a thud, a light scraping of something and then only silence which alerted his senses.

He crossed the distance between the bathroom and the front door through the dark living room with a few graceful, measured steps, trying to pick up more sounds, just to find his arms suddenly full of a limp body the moment he opened the door.

"Genesis," he whispered in worried astonishment once his senses processed the cool softness of leather and the sweet, all too familiar scent of copper hair. "Genesis!" he repeated a bit louder when there was no reaction from the redhead. Weren't it for his arms, the other would've collapsed, he could tell it from the weight settling on his arms. Carefully, he got a hold on Genesis' waist and with some difficulty managed to slip his other arm under the redhead's bent knees, adjusting his hold a bit so that the copper head rested on his shoulder instead of just hanging limp. Genesis' slender form seemed to be feather-light and frail in his arms, but that was just an illusion created by his enhanced strength.

He carried him to the bed, laying him down on the soft black sheets. Genesis whimpered and turned his head slightly, the first signs of life beside his shallow, irregular breathing. Sephiroth sat down beside him, one hand pushing the unruly copper fringe away from that beautiful face while he turned on the bedside lamp with the other.

He never expected the results of this simple action to be so spectacular. The redhead gave a sharp, keening cry, tossing his head and kicking out with one leg, barely missing the lower headboard as his body jerked violently, and Sephiroth was quick to adjust the lampshade so that it cast the least light on the bed. Not like he couldn't see as well in the darkness as a Mideel jungle cat, but this time, he needed to see colors.

As he set to peeling off the red leather coat his mind was desperately trying to come up with something comforting others would say in a situation like this, but repeating 'it's all right' when it was obviously anything but seemed to be entirely unreasonable. So he just lifted his hand to silently brush one pale cheek with his knuckles, the skin so soft, so smooth, just as he had always imagined it to be, and far, far too hot for his liking. But the touch seemed to calm the panting breaths of the other, so he let his fingers linger a moment more before returning to his task.

He immediately took to examining the bare forearms once the damned garment was finally out of the way, and on the left there they were, the usual two small, purple dots where needles broke the perfect skin, already healing but not quite gone yet, one for the blood sample and one for the mako injection. He ran his fingertips over them, brows creasing in angered concern for his friend.

Genesis wasn't due for another dose of the bright green poison for almost another week, and he was already put on an intensive treatment by Hollander so that his body could catch up before their leave ended and they had to return to the frontlines. He had no idea why Hollander insisted Genesis had to take so many shots when Hojo didn't do anything of the like to him, but the two scientists wouldn't share that, he knew. Though Hojo's gloating cackle when it came to the subject made him suspect there was something more to this than the age-long rivalry between the two doctors.

His fingers slid lower, searching for the pulse in one thin, elegant wrist, finding that the beat was fluctuating between too fast and too slow, and he took hold of the slim, languid hand. Funny how he never actually noticed this particular feature about the redhead before, when it seemed to be so glaringly obvious now, that despite all the strength and power, how delicate he really was, features so fine, hands so narrow, fingers so slender and long... He whisked away the unusual thoughts, there were pressing matters demanding his attention.

He patted Genesis' face lightly, turning to little slaps as he tried to drag the other back into consciousness.

"Genesis! Do you hear me? Genesis...," the dark eyelashes fluttered and he went on. "Come on, answer me, Genesis."

"S-Seph," came the weak, crooked whisper, and sudden relief flooded his senses even though there was something in the way those barely open eyes seemed to search for him uncertainly under the cover of long dark eyelashes that nagged at the back of his mind.

"I'm here," he anwered, his fingers moving on their own accord to push a few bothersome strands of hair out of the redhead's pale face. "Tell me..."

"Burns!" Genesis whimpered, a pitiful mewl of pain, a sound he had never heard from those most eloquent lips and he was sure he never wanted to hear ever again. The rage against Hollander rose in his chest once again while something tightened around his heart, pressing down on him like a huge stone, the two conflicting forces threatening to tore his cool apart. No, he couldn't afford the luxury of feeling just yet.

"Tell me, Genesis, what...," he tried, but it was no use, the redhead was out cold once again.

He was at a loss as to what to do now. He was familiar with the symptoms of mako poisoning, every year there was a considerable amount of cadets reacting unfavourably to the treatment, but this wasn't anything quite like it. Mako poisoning usually involved nausea, fever, shaking, vomiting blood and sweating as the body tried to get rid of the poison inside. While Genesis obviously experienced the first two, he showed no signs of the others. It made no sense at all.

It was also quite clear that if Genesis was in no condition to either call for help or make it back to his or Angeal's quarters, than the trouble they were in was indeed serious. Could this be some sort of an allergic reaction? Not like he knew much about allergy, but it seemed to be a rather convenient explanation. Except that the only thing Genesis' system had high intolerance towards according to his knowledge was human stupidity. Well, the important thing was to remain calm and fixed and think logically, right?

He was supposed to do something. Like call for help, except it was easier said than done. Bringing Genesis back to the Labs was out of the question, there was no way he was letting those bastards as much as lay a finger on him in this condition. Lazard, he trusted, but he also knew that the man would immediately notify Medical, and that was as good as telling it directly to the two top scientists of Shinra. Which left him Angeal.

He took his cell phone from the nightstand and dialled the older man, waiting impatiently for their friend to pick up.

"Seph?" came the faint cracking of Angeal's voice, backed by the whizz of the wind and a strong static noise.

"Angeal, it's about Genesis. Has he ever...?" Sephiroth started, but was cut off by Angeal, or rather what remained of his voice over the phone.

"... phiroth? ... you hear m... sig..."

"Angeal, can you get clearer transmission? You barely come across."

Great. So Angeal haven't returned from his mission in the Condor Area yet, where contacting him, as it became evident, was more or less impossible. After trying again a few times, but only receiving cracking noise as answer, he finally flipped his phone shut with a sigh. So much about getting help. Or sleep, for that matter.

His eyes returned to the bed, silently contemplating what to do. This wasn't like any of his own experiences. All right, at least Genesis' eyes weren't bleeding like his did during his worst case of mako overdose. Speaking of which...

He leaned forward again, carefully shadowing Genesis' face from the lamplight with his body as he lifted one eyelid, pulling back startled. The redhead's captivating blue eye now glowed a deep, mako-tainted green, but what left Sephiroth feeling sick to his stomach was the semi-transparent white scale covering it and the dilated pupil underneath that didn't react, even when with his careless motion he let lamplight fall on it. He moved his hand experimentally before the exposed eye, but there was no reaction whatsoever, only the horrifying, blank white-green statue stare.

He could only hope that this was a temporary condition, because obviously, Genesis was as blind and helpless as a newborn kitten. If not even more so. He let the lid slide back closed, combing his hand through his silver locks.

This was just getting worse and worse, like some sort of nightmare, except, there was no waking from this one, and he still had no idea how to approach a case like this. Out in the battlefield he would just cast a Cure spell, but where mako overdose was the issue, using mako-based treatment could prove fatal.

Damn, why did this need to happen when Angeal was away? Genesis had to know his childhood friend wasn't back from his mission, and that thought made him feel strangely warm inside. Genesis didn't just stop at the first door he could find, nor did he aim for his own quarters. No, he came here, to _him_, trusting him to help and that he would do no matter what.

--

The relentless ringing of his phone woke him. He must've dozed off in the end, even though he planned on staying awake. His cat-green eyes instantly darted to check the breathing of the sleeping form on his left. It was unsettling what a difference it made to have someone just an arm's length away, to hear the quiet, calm breathing of another, so strangely comforting. He couldn't help but wonder why such a small, simple thing would have such an effect, so different from the nights spent at camp with all the troops around. Even when he was asleep, Genesis' presence seemed to fill the emptiness of his room that he could feel so acutely only now, in retrospect.

He pushed aside the annual report of the Research and Development Department on firearms from his lap and reached for the small, annoying device. A glance at the screen told him the source of disruption this time wasn't Lazard, thankfully, but Angeal. "Sephiroth," he picked up immediately.

"Thank Goddess, I've been trying to reach you for hours, but it was impossible until the snow storm was over. What happened?"

The calm, soothing voice of the older man instantly eased some of the tension in his body. For some reason, most of the times Angeal sounded like he was talking to children. If he picked that up around the troops or Genesis, Sephiroth couldn't tell, but right now he was grateful to hear it anyway. He gave a brief summary of the situation and heard the other swear under his breath, a clear sign that Angeal was seriously pushed to the end of his tolerance.

"Anything else?" Angeal asked, his tone calm, but Sephiroth could hear the supressed rage underneath it. "Muscle cramps, bleeding?"

"You mean it usually gets worse than this?" the silver hero more stated than asked.

"Sometimes," Angeal sighed. "But you are not even supposed to know about that. Hollander," he added the name with bitter disdain, like it was all the explanation needed, and it really was. Sephiroth nodded, forgetting for a second Angeal wouldn't see that. _Officially_, it wasn't any of his business, but still he needed to ask.

"Angeal... You too?"

There was moment of silence on the other end.

"No, not me," came the quiet reply, and emerald green eyes widened for a split second.

_Only Genesis..._

"So, he is asleep now...," Angeal said, thinking aloud as it was his habit when he was deep in thought. Sephiroth could even see it in his mind's eyes as he lifted a hand to rub it over his chin.

"Not anymore," came a voice, barely above a whisper from his left, and he needed a second to realise that it was indeed Genesis, his eyes now open, and much to his relief, though still tainted with green, otherwise perfectly normal. Without a word, he passed the phone to the redhead and got up to leave for the kitchen and give them some privacy, even though Genesis gestured that it was unnecessary.

He came back with a glass of water, catching a few muttered words of reassurance from Genesis, who offered him the phone with a languid move of his wrist. He slipped back under the covers and let the other curl up against his side with a drained sigh. Even though awake, the redhead seemed like he was ready to pass out any given moment, and he combed his fingers through the copper tresses reassuringly.

"Angeal?" he murmured into the receiver.

"Hollander and I are having a talk when I get back," Angeal grunted in a way that left little doubt about the particularly unfriendly nature of that discussion with the head of the science department. It made Sephiroth's lips curve into a slight smirk despite the circumstances.

"I'm one hundred percent with you on this one. If I can do anything..."

"Thank you, but I think it is for the best if you stay out of this," Angeal declined, and as much as he wouldn't have minded to get involved personally, Sephiroth knew his friend was right. His link to Hojo would've made things seem quite different for outsiders and the situation was awkward enough as it was. "I appreciate your offer though," Angeal added warmly, and even though there were hundreds of miles separating them, Sephiroth could still picture his expression down to the tiniest detail, the curve of his lips and the wrinkles forming in the corners of his eyes as he smiled.

He found himself wishing the other was back to Midgar, with them; it always felt like something important was missing from their lives when one of them was away, and it only seemed to be enhanced when Genesis and Angeal were separated.

"Could you talk to Tseng in the morning? I won't be back before noon, and I hear the two of you are on good terms."

"Sure thing. No word of this shall reach the frontlines," Sephiroth nodded, fully understanding where Angeal's thoughts were headed. They couldn't let the troops get word of Genesis' sickness, especially now that their moral was rather undermined by the latest Wutaian successes. "You take care on your way back," the silver hero added with some difficulty. His vocabulary used to be devoid of such expressions, but the more time he had spent with the two, the easier it became to say them. And it was just oh so worth to do so, as he could hear the smile in Angeal's voice in return.

"You bet. As I said, I shall be back early in the afternoon. You take care of our resident troublemaker."

"I've heard that," came Genesis's muffled voice, and Angeal actually laughed. Even Sephiroth's lips spread into a rather fond smile. This little teasing was solid, familiar ground.

"I certainly hope you did," Angeal even raised his voice a bit.

"Traitor."

"Love you too. See you both in a few hours," and with that, he hung up.

Sephiroth flipped the device shut and put the phone down. He glanced at Genesis, who was still using him as his personal pillow, but seeing how his eyes were closed and his breathing laboured, he decided not to disturb him. Sure, sleeping with his back propped up with pillows against the headboard wasn't his favourite position to spend the night in, but with that beautiful head on his chest and those soft, silk tresses under his fingers, it didn't seem that bad. No, not bad at all, and he let his eyes fall closed, drifting off to sleep, not fully understanding why he was smiling as he did so.


End file.
